


If I Don't Get Some Shelter (I'm Gonna Fade Away)

by citysonfire



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 15:15:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5875768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citysonfire/pseuds/citysonfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Chas kicks him out, Aaron goes to the one place he thinks he might be OK.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If I Don't Get Some Shelter (I'm Gonna Fade Away)

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the spoiler that Chas will kick Aaron out. I don’t really know how or why Chas will do that so her dialogue might be a bit on the cruel side in this but really it’s just a catalyst for Aaron to spend time with his family that isn’t by blood – Adam, Victoria and Robert. 
> 
> Title is from Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones 
> 
> While there isn’t anything explicit, this story is set after Aaron's confession to Robert so there are references to Gordon and how Aaron hurt himself in this. I’m trying to keep this as light and as happy as it can be before everything gets even more painful on the show.

Aaron couldn’t stop hearing his mum’s words as he shoved clothes into a rucksack. They just kept going round and round in his head.

_“Just get out! I don’t want you here anymore! You are a hypocrite, you don’t want me seeing Gordon but then you crawl back to Robert! Just leave!”_

Aaron was struggling to keep it together as he picked up his phone charger. He starred at his passport for a while. Ed had called wondering why he hadn’t showed up, Aaron had fobbed him off with an excuse but he could still go to France. Aaron shoved his passport into the bag, he didn’t think he’d leave right now, but it was best to keep his options open.

Aaron wondered where he could go. His first thought was Paddy’s but Rhona was stressing about the adoption and Aaron still wasn’t talking to Paddy, he just couldn’t see him and keep lying for him. There was Moira and Cain’s, but they’d no doubt take his mums’ side, he could stay with Lisa but she had enough going on with Uncle Zak. There’s Marlon’s or he could even ask to sleep on Sam and Megan’s sofa, but they’d just ask questions he wouldn’t want to answer.

Aaron sighed as he threw his rucksack over his shoulder and took one last look at his room. Gordon might not be here now but he still managed to make him lose his home.

Aaron still wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he came down the stairs. He looked into the living room, both hoping his mum would still be there and dreading seeing her. Instead there was Victoria making a cup of tea in the kitchen.

She turned and saw him. “Hey you OK?” She offered him a small smile, “Me and Marlon couldn’t help but hear, though we turned the radio up to give you some privacy.”

Aaron rubbed a hand over his face when it suddenly came to him. Victoria, Adam and Robert would be on his side. They weren’t family but were as good as.

“Can I ask you a favour?” Aaron asked, he could barely meet Victoria’s eye.

Victoria nodded and smiled encouragingly at him, “Sure.”

“Can I stay at yours for a while? You probably heard but mums kicked me out and I –”

“Of course! Both Adam and Robert will love having you there.” She beamed at him as she searched through her apron for her keys. “How’s it going with you and Robert anyway?”

Aaron spluttered and shuffled his feet as he tried to figure out what to say. While it might sort of suit him for people to think him and Robert are together, it really was very awkward. “Fine. It’s fine.” Aaron managed to force out as Victoria handed him her house keys.

“Great! He does care about you, you know. A sister can tell this things.” Victoria squeezed his hand once before heading back to the pub kitchen, “Adam will be home for lunch and Robert’s probably watching crappy daytime TV right now so you can save him from Homes Under the Hammer. See you later!”

Aaron sighed and shook his head. He was actually going to move in with Robert, there’s something he didn’t think would ever happen.

~*~~*~~*~

Robert was slumped on the sofa staring at the TV but not really paying it any attention when he heard the key in the door. He glanced at his watch and frowned, it wasn’t close to lunchtime yet but he wasn’t surprised Adam couldn’t survive the whole morning without Aaron there at the scrapyard.

Robert shouted towards the hallway, “You skiving off work again?”

He looked towards the door when he didn’t get Adam’s usual snappish retort and scrambled to his feet when he saw it was Aaron in the doorway, not Adam.

Aaron nodded towards the TV, “Vic was right, you are watching crappy daytime TV.”

Robert looked between the TV and Aaron before he grabbed the remote and turned it off. “What are you doing here?” Robert couldn’t help but look Aaron over, looking for any sign of injury. “Are you OK?”

“Yeah I’m fine.” Aaron snorted, “If you don’t count my mum chucking me out. Vic gave me her keys and said I could stay here. That OK with you?”

“Yeah, course.” Robert didn’t know what else to say, him and Aaron being civil towards each other, maybe even being friends, was a whole new territory.

“So… Vic’s got the idea we’re together…”

Robert winced, “Yeah sorry about that. She was there when I saw your mum that day, so was Diane, I didn’t know what to say-”

“It’s fine,” Aaron knew Robert was only looking out for him and if people thought they were seeing each other, they wouldn’t get interested in why they were actually talking to each other. “That does mean I’ll probably have to stay in your room though.”

Robert blinked at Aaron, “Yeah right, we can figure that out. Let me take your bag and you can just make yourself at home.”

Robert took Aaron’s rucksack and quickly made his way upstairs to his room. He sat on the bed, Aaron’s bag next to him and put head in his hands. Robert wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Vic would find it weird if he or Aaron slept on the sofa, though he supposed there was just about enough room for him to sleep on the floor of his bedroom. While his bed was big enough for two, Robert very much doubted Aaron would want to share a bed with him after everything that’d happened between them. Robert had slept on the floor for Aaron before and he’d do it a hundred times more if it meant Aaron felt alright. They had the whole day to figure out the sleeping arrangements, it’ll all work out in the end.

~*~~*~~*~

Aaron’s in the kitchen making himself and Robert a cup of tea when Adam came home for lunch.

“Mate!” Adam said as he pulled Aaron into a hug, “Vic told me what happened with your mum, want me to say anything to her?”

Aaron shook his head, “Nah, best to leave it. Thanks for having me though.”

“Course, wouldn’t let you go on the streets. And we’ve never been roommates before, isn’t that like a best friend rite of passage or something?”

Aaron laughed, no matter what was going on in his life, he could count on Adam to make him smile. He nodded towards the kettle, “Want one?”

“Cheers mate,” Adam leaned against the counter next to him, “You and Robert going to be OK living together? Bit quick isn’t it.”

Aaron grimaced, he couldn’t lie to Adam but he didn’t know how to handle this on top of everything else. “We’re mates now, actually talking about stuff. It’ll be fine.” It wasn’t an outright lie, he and Robert were mates now, the way Robert had been the past week, they couldn’t be anything else. Still, it wasn’t quite the truth and Aaron hated lying to Adam.

Adam nudged Aaron with his shoulder, “You know you can always talk to me right? I might give terrible advice but I’ll always listen.”

“Yeah, I know mate.” Aaron smiled as he poured the tea, “Want me to come back to the scrapyard with you?”

“But it’s your day off!”

“Do you want the help or not?”

Adam laughed, “You know me, I need all the help I can get!”

~*~~*~~*~

When Adam and Aaron got home, Robert and Victoria had just finished making dinner for them all. Robert couldn’t help up find it a bit weird as the four of them sat down to eat. Victoria told them about Marlon’s latest antics in the kitchen while Aaron and Adam talked about how the afternoon at the scrapyard went. Aaron being there made things so much easier, Adam was more relaxed and didn’t shoot any snide comments towards Robert, and Robert manged to keep himself in check, not wanting to upset Aaron.

Robert found himself smiling at Aaron when the younger man wasn’t looking at him. Robert was just so happy and impressed by the fact that Aaron could still laugh and be kind after everything that has happened to him, after everything he told Robert, bringing all those horrible memories to the surface but he could still smile at Victoria and lean into Adam when he throws an arm around his shoulder.

When they finished eating, Aaron offered to wash the dishes and elbowed Adam in the ribs until he agreed to help, leaving Robert alone with Victoria.

Robert curled up in a chair while Victoria perched on the end of the sofa. Robert got a strange sense of déjà vu as Vic gave him a piercing look, “Are you going to talk to me about this?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

Vitoria rolled her eyes, “Aaron has just moved in with you! That’s a big deal!”

“No it’s not – OK it is but me and Aaron aren’t like that.” Robert still wasn’t sure what to class his and Aaron’s relationship now. “We’re mates and we’re still working things out.”

Victoria looked as if she wanted to know what that meant but Robert got there first.

“I don’t want to talk about it OK? That’s all you’re getting from me and don’t get at Aaron either.”

Victoria suddenly leant over and kissed him on the forehead.

“What’s that for?!”

“I knew you cared about him.” Victoria said with a smile.

Robert opened his mouth to reply when Adam and Aaron came in from the kitchen, so he quickly shut up and turned to face the TV.

The rest of the evening was spent with the four of them watching old episodes of QI on Dave. Like dinner, it was comfortable and just so normal. Robert was so relaxed that the next thing he knew was Vic shaking his shoulder, Aaron had already gone to bed and she and Adam were going up too.

Robert nodded and tided up the living room a bit before going upstairs.

Aaron was already in bed by the time Robert had finished in the bathroom. He grabbed a blanket and a pillow from the top of the wardrobe and started to get settled on the floor.

“What are you doing?”

Robert looked up to see Aaron peering over the edge of the bed at him. “Sleeping? I didn’t want to presume anything.”

Aaron sighed, “We can share a bed Robert. I won’t break.”

“Are you sure?” Robert knew Aaron didn’t want anything from him, and that was OK, but he didn’t want Aaron to feel uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but remember how Aaron pulled away from him at Debbie’s when he had tried to comfort him.

“Just get in,” Aaron said as he rolled over to give Robert space.

Robert climbed into bed next to him and lay as still as possible. Thoughts were going a mile a minute around his head, he was sharing a bed with Aaron, nothing would happen obviously, but he and Aaron were in the same bed for the first time in months, after everything that they’d both said and done, and here they were in the same bed –

“Stop thinking so loud, I’m trying to sleep.” Aaron muttered into his pillow, startling Robert from his thoughts.

Robert huffed out a laugh, “Sorry.” He turned onto his side as he forced himself to stop overthinking things. He didn't know how but he was sure that everything would be OK in the end. Robert smiled, closed his eyes and let the sound of Aaron’s quiet snores lull him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who isn’t a Brit/doesn’t have the TV channel Dave, it’s basically the best channel on TV as all it has are repeats of comedy/quiz shows like Have I Got News For You, QI and Would I Lie To You? All these shows are great and when you can find nothing to watch, Dave is like the go to TV channel because there’ll always be something worthwhile to watch on it.


End file.
